Shallow Victory
by cooldude22345
Summary: Amidst the torrent of evil gripping her heart, Cynder's soul is touched by the most insignificant of words. Her only suprise is that even in victory, she fails.


"Hmm… Persistent little fella, aren't you?" Cynder murmured, arching her long neck down to stare at Spyro fixedly.

The purple dragon shuddered out of fear and the adrenaline pumping through his body. He knew that the time had come; if he were to fail now… No! This was no time to be thinking about failure! He had to focus on defeating Cynder, and stopping the dark master from returning!

The large black dragon grinned crookedly, already excited to finally end the annoying purple dragon. "This is where it really ends…" She growled, foreshadowing Spyro's impending fate.

Spyro shook his head and swallowed the lump that had grown in his throat, looking at Cynder in the eyes defiantly. "Bring it!" He knew he wasn't ready for the battle that was about to occur. His words only contradicted the fear that gripped his heart coldly and the shivers that ran up his spine.

The life she had chosen to uphold came at the crushing cost of solitude. She knew this for a fact, and had no doubt that she would remain in such a way unless the purple dragon changed his perspective and saw things as she would.

It was worth a shot.

Cynder swung her tail at him lightly, enjoying the fear in Spyro's eyes as the blade stopped mere inches away from his cheek. With a sudden, soft look in her eyes she stroked his cheek gently; it amused her how quickly the purple dragon's expression changed to one of surprise. Such a shame that she would have to dispose of him! So much potential that he had hidden within him, and yet he chooses to uphold the traditions and laws of the ancestors. It was truly disappointing.

Spyro felt the urge to take her tail within his mouth and tear it away from her after all she's done to the world. It was his fear that kept him frozen in place, and the mystified look Cynder was giving him that caused his heart to pound. Somehow, in a strange way, there was a sense of beauty to the larger dragoness… And it felt wrong.

"Pity that you fail to see the beauty of my work…" She purred, bringing her wing around Spyro softly, "Unless, of course, you beg to differ…" Maybe the purple runt would change his mind, and join her in resurrecting the dark master. And if he didn't… Well, that would just be too bad for him. She brought her snout several inches away from Spyro's head, licking her lips affectionately. "You and I, ruling together… Can you picture that?"

Indeed, he could. And it made him sick to his stomach. Though, in his current situation, it seemed that she was making him choose life or death. It was almost tempting to throw away his past, and join her in the hopes of living another day. But he had gone too far to turn back now; he had saved too many lives to suddenly give up.

And still, he was too petrified to speak.

Cynder ran a claw down his neck enticingly, feeling him shivering underneath her grip. "Spyro…" She purred quietly.

She had expected him to give in, and she even found herself hoping that he would come to his senses and join her. Before she knew it, Spyro had brought his paw down upon her face and smacked her aside, causing her to loose her balance and fall. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she brought a shaky paw to her throbbing jaw. She could feel her own warm blood running down her cheek; nobody had ever drawn blood from her, ever! She was foolish to think she could convince this young dragon to be with her; with a hateful roar she stood up, swung her head at Spyro with sharp horns pointed towards him. He jumped to the side and avoided what would have been a fatal blow, staring at the black dragoness hatefully.

"How could you?!" He growled in between strained breaths, "Look at the world you have created, you monster! How can you expect me to help you destroy what little I have left?!" Tears were rolling down his cheeks out of anger and sorrow. Anger for the things that Cynder had done to the world, and the fact that she showed no remorse... Sorrow for the pity he felt for her, that she, an innocent dragoness, was turned into a puppet for the dark master… It was heartbreaking. He knew that somewhere within her, there was a soul, crying out to be touched. If only he could reach out to that poor soul and speak to it…

Cynder looked behind her and into the infinite expanse of Convexity. Her expression softened as she realized what he was talking about. She, Cynder, had brought terror and hate upon this innocent world… Yet she enjoyed it. Spyro's words meant nothing to her; he was now only an obstacle preventing her from achieving her life's ambition. She turned around and grinned, winking at Spyro mockingly. "I see what I have done to this world… Isn't it beautiful?" She cackled, tossing her head dangerously.

Spyro looked down sadly. "You are alone in this world. Bringing back Malefor will only ensure that you remain as such."

Cynder narrowed her eyes at him angrily, scratching the ground beneath her with claws poised to attack. Still, his words had some form of effect on her, in such a way that she hesitated to ponder her thoughts.

But enough of small talk. She raised her arm up into the air, happy that the purple dragon's reflexes were not as good as she had thought.

"AHHH!" Spyro nearly bent in half as Cynder brought her paw crashing down onto him. His breath escaped him for several seconds, and his eyes widened much more than they already were. The pain that shot through his body paralyzed him to the spot; all that he could do was scream out in pain and suffering.

"Oh…" Cynder growled, "It seems I was a bit rough on you." She laughed mockingly, removing her paw from the purple dragon's back slowly. His spine popped underneath her paw as her smile only grew wider and more taunting.

That feeling… It was returning! Her lust for blood had returned, only strengthened by the fact that she was causing Spyro so much suffering. Oh, how she enjoyed the suffering of this dragon! He had only been a bug in her eye this whole time, and it brought her joy to know that her master would soon return!

"Please…" She could hear him say in between gasps for air, "Open your eyes…"

Cynder laughed at the lameness of which he spoke his words. His blood loss was surely messing with his weak mind. "Maybe I will listen when you say something a little less… cliché…" She growled, swinging her head at him and driving her horns through his small body.

"AHHH!" He screamed once again, squirming in pain as blood poured out of his wounds. The pain he felt was… intense. It felt as if his insides had caught on fire; his only way out of his pain was through death. And right now, that didn't seem too bad to him. He even felt a bit of regret for not taking her up on her offer…

Cynder raised a scaly brow curiously. She hadn't thought that ending him would take this long... What could it be that was holding her back? It was something pulling at her from the back of her mind… It made her feel pity for the dragon before her. "You should have accepted my offer…" She snarled, "Maybe then you wouldn't be suffering so much…" It was hard to say these words to him. She was hesitant in her actions, and for that the purple dragon was only suffering more.

"I…" Spyro started, coughing loudly as his pain intensified, "I feel sorry for you…"

What? Had he just said he felt _sorry_ for her?! What could possibly bring her any lower? She could feel her pride drop considerably, an offense that could not be pardoned!

"So be it." She growled, grabbing one of his paws and lifting him up to face her, "Goodbye, Sp-" She was cut by Spyro's coughing. It unnerved her how much blood he was loosing, to the point that his body had grown several pounds lighter. She swayed a bit as her arm quivered slightly, much to her annoyance.

"You… Didn't deserve this…" he rasped, feeling all the strength in his body flowing out of the holes in his stomach, "I know that… You're innocent…"

"Save your words for the afterlife!" She interrupted his speech, dropping him to the floor angrily, "They mean nothing! No, not now, not ever!" She brought the blade of her tail to Spyro's throat, shaking a bit as she noticed Spyro's tears flowing freely down the sides of his cheeks.

The purple dragon sobbed, blinking slowly as his life slowly faded. "Cynder…" He coughed weakly, looking at the black dragoness with eyes full of sorrow.

Cynder pressed her tail against his neck harder, turning her head with closed eyes. "If only you had joined me…"

"Goodbye." She heard him whisper weakly. With clenched teeth she dragged her tail blade quickly, feeling the resistance of his scales as she did so. In any other situation, she would have enjoyed the feeling that came with killing.

All she felt was a bitter emptiness. She looked down at Spyro and frowned, feeling lament growing from somewhere within her chest. It pained her to look at him, she shut her eyes and turned away, clenching her paws tightly.

Maybe it was the fact that she had killed the only other possible companion that existed. Perhaps so much killing had finally taken its toll on her mind. There was no way of explaining this state of regret.

"Goodbye, Spyro." She murmured.

Somehow, even after victory, she had failed.

--

Hmm… A bit depressing, lol. Here we see Cynder feeling bad for killing the only other dragon she could ever hope to bond with, blah blah blah…

It just goes to show, you should never playa-hate. XD Also, I freaken forgot to include Ignitus and Sparx. Oh well.

Disclaimer: I do not own the legend of Spyro or any of it's franchise.


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